Despite danger, convoy Airmen keep on trucking

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Marc Barnes
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
MOSUL, Iraq (AFPN) --  The hours are long, and their jobs are dangerous, but Airmen keeping supply lines running on northern Iraq roads are determined to keep on trucking.

That is because they realize the importance of what they do, said Capt. Harley Smith, commander of more than 140 Airmen assigned to Detachment 1 of the 732nd Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron here.

“Our main mission is to provide gunship convoy escorts for sustainment trucks as far south as (Tikrit, Iraq),” Captain Smith said. “That's important because no military person or government contractor in the northern part of Iraq would have food to eat, water to drink, or fuel for their vehicles if we didn't do what we do.”

But what they do comes with risks that are obvious to every Airman during each convoy mission, Captain Smith said.

Airman 1st Class Michael Ross faces the risks several times each week as he travels the roads of northern Iraq, manning a .50-caliber machine gun while standing in a steel box on the back of one of the unit’s armor-plated, 5-ton “gun trucks.” As a heavy gunner, he rides in the last truck of the convoy, scanning the horizon for would-be attackers. He said that despite the danger, he loves his job.

“How many people in the Air Force can say they’ve done what we’re doing? We ride (across Iraq) in ‘up-armored’ 5-ton gun trucks, manning heavy weapons,” he said. “Before I joined the Air Force, I hoped I’d get to do something like this. … It’s a good thing.”

The job Airman Ross and other vehicle operators here are doing is a big contrast from the jobs they do at home, Captain Smith said.

“The difference is in the intensity of the workload and the fact that, daily, it's very dangerous out there,” the captain explained. “At a home station (logistics readiness squadron), you might see a single vehicle dispatched to do a single taxi run for a single customer. Here, we never move as a ‘single.’ Everything here is a convoy; everything is mutual support for one another.

“The amount of preparation and planning that goes into a convoy is considerably greater over here than it is back home, due to the security situation and the importance of our mission,” he said. “We put Airmen in harm's way every day.”

That is a fact the Airmen assigned to the unit know all too well. The unit is still mourning the loss of Airman 1st Class Carl Anderson Jr., who died Aug. 29 after a roadside bomb attack during a convoy escort mission in northern Iraq.

Captain Smith said Airman Anderson’s death deeply affected everyone in the unit.

“It's difficult to deal with the death of a team member and friend,” Captain Smith said. “After Airman Anderson's death, some Airmen were apprehensive while others wanted retribution; but as a team, we were able to refocus on our mission, get back out on the road and perform professionally."

Even with the daily dangers they face, the unit’s Airmen keep convoys moving in northern Iraq. Airman Ross said he uses the tension he feels before every mission to help him focus on his responsibilities -- to both the mission and his team.

“We treat every mission as if it’s the first,” he said. “That helps us stay focused. If something happens, we know what to do.”